Wasted Early Sunday Morning
by Killer Moth
Summary: Jack proposes a dare with Abbie to enjoy a movie of his choosing. The movie? Why, Godzilla vs. Mothra, of course.


Disclaimer: I don't own Law and Order or the movie "Godzilla vs. Mothra". Wolf and Toho but mostly Wolf I'm sure, would make me a genuine corpse from those corpses you see at the teaser of every Law and Order. I might be on next week's episode, you never know.

Author's Note: Originally a challenge fic that I wanted to write for with brevity because of a friend and I ended up with something much longer. Oh well, but all the same, just yet another plotbunny involving a movie I love so much.

Beta: H.Moth, and her Merry Men.

Dedication: For Moonbeamdancer for her company for Super Bowl Sunday.

Timeline: Post season 11, I guess. I'm getting a lot more general with these things.

Ready Go!

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Jack began to rise out of his slumber. His blurry eyes tried to discern the digital alarm clock.

'_Damn it— either way, too early.'_

It was Sunday morning, the only time in the week where he was allowed to relax and not dwell on the latest of New York's murderers, rapists, embezzlers—or the cream of the crop of the criminal justice system. He stretched out and noticed his still sleeping lover-cum-girlfriend, the former New York A.D.A. Abbie Carmichael. He wanted to dwell on what she had done for him, creating a sense of resurrection, but first his body demanded its daily caffeine dosage. He wore his sapphire robe, sluggishly wobbled to the kitchen, and made a pot of coffee for himself while slowly reaching consciousness.

'_Oh God, what happened last night?'_ He turned to the direction of the bedroom.

'_Oh right.' _

He slowly walked to the living room with his coffee, opened the curtains and hit his foot on a box of VCR tapes. He was Spring Cleaning and planning to sell some of them when he saw a tape in its package on top—"Godzilla vs. Mothra".

"God, how long was it since I saw this?"

He started to reminisce. _'It's been…almost 40 years later since I first saw it. I…still can't believe I went to see that, on a dare from a girlfriend.'_ Jack's eyes burned through the simple packaging.

'_The sad thing is…I can still remember what it was to watch it in a packed theater, see those special effects on the screen and come to life and see the…kids cheering at the big showdown between Mothra and Godzilla, the hissing at the villainous Torahatta, the fury of Godzilla. It seems so…ageless,' _he thought as a smile crept up on him.

'_Such fare is certainly different than that high tech thriller Abbie made me see last night.' _

He checked the time. _'Abbie won't be up for a while; it's the only day she sleeps in. Why not? I've got the time.'_

The E.A.D.A. put the tape in the VCR and sat down on the couch and watched as the credits then run with the ubiquitous Godzilla theme.

'_I never get tired of this theme. I don't know why.' _

The movie commenced with the appearance of a giant egg in the shores of Japan in the aftermath of a massive hurricane. The reporter Sakai and his trusty photographer Junko, with the analytical Professor Miura, tried their best to assist Mothra's tiny twin priestesses in re-aquiring the purchased egg back from the exploitive, Machiavellian millionaire Torahatta. On top of failing the miniature women, Godzilla washed up with the storm and threatened Japan once again. Jack heard stirrings; Abbie, apparently, woke up. A few minutes later, she walked to the living room, dressed in her ruby robe.

"You're up early." She rubbed the dust from her eyes.

"I could say the same for you," Jack quipped back. She turned her head to the TV, which was showing Godzilla as he destroyed Nagoya castle.

"What are you watching?" She hid her disgust.

"Godzilla vs. Mothra, the 1964 version. I found it in the boxes filled with that crap we Spring Cleaned. Been so long since I watched it last."

"Godzilla movies, Jack? It seems so tacky, so outdated."

"As opposed to those thrillers with explosions, sex, and more explosions?"

"You mean last night, don't you?" she retorted defensively.

"I don't mean that, just…this one is different than movies of today or even in its day," he said in a wistful tone.

"How? It's just a man in a rubber suit wrecking models and people running away in bad dubs. It doesn't sound too deep to me."

Jack noticed the scene where the cast is mulling around, wondering what to do with Godzilla and suggesting recruiting Mothra.

"Well, I give you a proposition, watch the rest of the movie with me or at least the following scene, and if you're not impressed at all, I will do your briefs for a month."

She raised an eyebrow, interested. "And if I am?"

"You do my briefs for a month."

She had a smirk grace her lips, sat down and cuddled next to her boyfriend. "Deal. Prepare to lose."

"Right back at you." Jack paused the movie to explain the synopsis and explain who was who.

"For a movie you haven't seen a while, you sure know a lot," she barbed.

"It's simple enough to follow."

"What about the dubbing? I hope it isn't too…"

"Just shut up and watch." He rolled his eyes.

"Fine."

The movie currently panned to a shot of a plane flying into a dark sky and then cut to an ocean and people rowing a rubber raft. The following shot was a polluted valley with a skeleton of a turtle appearing alive and craning its skull around as a trio dressed in radiation suits walked in.

"That's…kinda disturbing," the former A.D.A. remarked.

"It's supposed to."

"_And this is the result of atomic tests?"_ the photographerJunko questioned.

"_At one time, this was a beautiful, green island. As a scientist, I feel partially responsible for this,"_ Professor Miura commented before using a Geiger counter on this one polluted puddle.

"_All of mankind is responsible,"_ Junko noted as she looked around.

"_It's like the end of the world here."_

"_This island alone is good reason to end nuclear testing. Those who think highly of war should come and see this, eh?"_ the leader of the trio, the reporter, Sakai spoke finally. As they explored, a man with his face painted red tried to hide himself within the rocks.

"That's not much of a make up job," Abbie jabbed.

"Abbie. This is not Mystery Science Theater 3000, you'll see why," he said sternly.

"Sorry."

As they resumed watching, the trio was jumped on by men with their bodies painted crimson, yelling "Strangers" and ushered them into a cave, radiation suits disrobed, where the rest of the island natives without the ruby makeup looked on in astonishment and fear, with the chief dressed in a white headdress glaring at the outsiders as the natives brought them before him.

"_Do you think that they'll hurt us?"_ Junko asked Sakai as the natives gathered around them in a deathlock.

"_I don't know. I don't think they're dangerous,"_ he replied.

"_I'm sure they hate us for what happened here—the nuclear tests,"_ Miura responded somberly.

"_The drink,"_ the chief commanded and several native girls dressed in blue robes came to the trio and offered each a bowl filled with ruby dyed water. They hesitantly drank it.

"Do I want to know what's in that?" Abbie retorted sardonically.

He sighed. "Abbie…" She soon acquiesced.

"_The drink has cleansed you. Evil spirits are dispelled. Now answer me—why have you come?"_ the chief asked in a booming, authoritative voice.

"_Sir, we have need of your assistance."_ Miura tried to say in an unsure voice.

The chief shook his head. _"We will not help. I do not look to Mothra for assistance."_

Miura stepped up to him. _"Sir, we are desperate. We had hoped that the Thing could help us."_

"_The Gods are punishing you because you have defied them. What happens to you is no concern of ours. Our people stricken with disease, you—you played with the fires of the Gods and you dare to come here and ask us for help? You betrayed us, you expect us to trust you after what you've done? We asked you to return the Thing's egg to us. You refused. Your people are being punished, their time has come! May your land be ruined like ours!"_ the chief raged.

"That's really…harsh." Abbie's tenor shifted.

"Again, it's supposed to," he reiterated.

As the trio hung their heads in defeat, a melodic forlorn Asiatic song echoed throughout the cave, they ran towards the camera to find the source.

"The melody sounds beautiful, at least."

"Don't tell me you're mellowing about this?" he smirked as the movie cut to the shot of the micro priestesses sitting in a field of flowers singing.

"Bite your tongue. Although…"

His ears perked up. "What?"

"Nothing. Let's see where this goes."

The trio ran into an opening, to an area filled with lush topical plants. As the pair finished their melancholy melody, the trio walked up to them.

"_This spot here is the only green on the island,"_ they spoke in unison as the natives soon joined the party.

Sakai attempted to speak when the minute women interrupted. _"Because of goodness and light have granted us extraordinary powers, the greatest of these is mental telepathy. You came here to ask us to send Mothra to you, isn't that right?"_

"_Yes, will you help us? You must ask Mothra to fight Godzilla,"_ Miura pled. The natives all nodded no.

"_You didn't help us, because of that no one here will help you. Things would have been different if you had returned our egg." _

"_But we did try. Can't you at least trust us?"_ he then queried; the priestesses looked at each other unsure.

"_We cannot trust you. Because your people have offended us."_ The natives nodded in agreement.

"_Now what?" _the reporter pondered.

"_Our mission has failed—there is nothing we can do,"_ Miura responded despondently.

"That's rather defeatist," Abbie stated, off putted.

Junko went in front of the natives. _"Please listen, we do understand. But do not blame every one of us for what has happened. The monster is killing everyone—the good are being killed as well as the evil. Are you going to let innocent men die alongside of guilty men? You have no right to decide that; that right is sacred. My friends and I appeal to you with the utmost humility. Our people are unable to stop Godzilla, we would truly like to help you but we need your help first. Refuse us and everyone will die!" _She finally rested on Sakai's shoulder, trying to hold back her tears.

Jack looked at Abbie's expression and observed the disdain melting away.

"_Just as you distrust us, so we distrust others as well. It's wrong. We are all human. As humans we are all responsible to each other; we are all related. Refuse us and you abandon your brothers. We must learn to help each other,"_ Sakai finished. The natives began to contemplate when a shrill cry in the background broke through the tension, capturing everyone's attention.

The doubles looked at the direction of the sound._ "Please, come with us."_

The twins ran out into a labyrinth of caves and rock scarred valleys, with the trio giving chase.

"You were saying?" Jack blurted out.

"What?"

"'Bite your tongue. Although…'"

She didn't face him. "Is the scene done? Or…"

"Not yet, just a little more. The final piece de résistance, so to speak."

"You said you watched this before?"

"Yeah, long time ago, with a girlfriend."

She finally eyed him. "Really?"

"Nothing like this. There, she just dragged me into it. Here, it's more…"

"More…"

"Here it is," Jack digressed as the duo sang a mellifluous chant and captured the couple's attentions. The trio finally reached the twosome and their chanting, looking in awe as they stared at the insect goddess, Mothra, on a plateau above them, bathed in light. The natives again followed but kept their distance.

"That's Mothra?" Abbie conjectured.

"Yeah."

"It almost looks…beautiful…" She wasn't sure what was overtaking her.

The chant finished and the identical twins turned to the trio. _"We have persuaded the Thing to help you."_

"_Is it true?"_ Sakai asked.

"_With what little power it has left." _

"_Why do you say that?"_ the professor wondered.

"_It is dying. We are afraid it has only a short time left. It is waiting in the temple, waiting to die. If it goes with you, it will not have the strength to return. But it will not be the end of Mothra—when the egg hatches, it will again be born,"_ the two stated in sorrow while the natives bowed. Mothra raised its wings majestically and shrieked before the scene faded out.

"Well?" Jack paused the movie again.

"I don't know…but I can see why the natives said to the outsiders to go 'blank' themselves after failing them like that, given what you said before."

"Yes and yet…"

"Mothra is going to help Japan anyway? That's mighty forgiving."

"Almost human wouldn't you say?" he chimed with a certain lilt in his voice.

"Well…yeah."

"That's why it has the priestesses: to keep and feature its humanity. That's why Japanese monster endure: because they get to show what characters they are instead of rampant monsters of death and destruction. Granted, most monster movies on both sides of the Pacific are like that: to be taken lightly, but not this one."

"No?"

"No, it's full of everything—political corruption, humanity's futility against itself besides Godzilla, the comeuppance of all the characters and the corruption and at the end, one hell of a monster fight," he beamed with a sense of brazenness.

"But it's so…"

"So what, Abbie?"

"I was going to say 'old' but…that's not fair and…well, hypocritical of me." She turned from him.

"Oh really?" He raised one of his infamous eyebrows. She sensed his smirk on her.

"Shut up. Can you rewind to the beginning of the movie?" She used her "come hither" eyes.

"Sure, we got plenty of time." He rewinded the movie.

"Jack?"

"Hm?"

"Did you enjoy this with your girlfriend?" she solicited after a pause.

"No. She was into it already. Apparently it's much more fun trying to convert a cynic."

"You sound so sure."

"I am. That scene proved me that it was more than a monster movie. And…I'm glad to share with you." He attempted to veil his blush. Her response was to cuddle deeper.

"You suckered me. I'm going to hate writing all those briefs," the A.D.A murmured.

"You could pray to Mothra to make it go away. It worked its wonders in Japan after all," he grinned.

"Now you're taunting," she snorted.

"More or less, now let's watch the movie and maybe if you're good, I'll dig out 'Godzilla vs. Monster Zero'. It has space aliens and interracial dating."

"I hate you."

"Ask me that after the movie works its wonders on you." The E.A.D.A. enjoyed himself and the taunt.

"I will but I get to have the remote. I need my dose of feminine dominance somewhere." She returned his smirk as she grabbed the remote.

"Just start the movie." He rolled his eyes, and cuddled against her.

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Just something to tide you romantics over until Valentine's Day and to dig for that copy of "Godzilla vs. Mothra" 64 version, gents, it may impress a lady as it's one of the most timeless of Godzilla movies.

Leave a review if you wish and see you in the funny papers.


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